Blodeuwedd

Comments

A beautiful, intricate painting, Margaret and thank you so much for telling the story - so interesting.

Posted by Jane Adams on Mon 16 Apr 17:24:39

enchanting, wonderful like the colors of spring. great story.

Posted by Pete Crowbaby on Tue 17 Apr 01:48:50

Interesting story, beautiful painting.

Posted by Carole Swingler on Tue 17 Apr 10:34:41

What a lot of work, well done.

Posted by Sue Petty on Wed 18 Apr 11:23:40

What a beautiful painting Margaret! The face is very good and all those tiny flowers so well painted. I like the owl and the composition too!

Posted by Satu Vartiainen on Sat 09 Jun 18:01:40

The legend of Blodeuwedd was used for the book "The Owl Service" by Alan Garner. It won the Carnegie Medal Award. It's very spooky! "The Owl Service" was also made into a television series by Granada in the nineteen seventies. You can still get it on DVD from Amazon.

Posted by Margaret Ellis on Sat 09 Jun 22:32:11

Great picture - Nasty bit of work though that Blodeuwedd

Posted by Angus Ballantine on Fri 21 Jun 22:25:46

You're a bit hard on her, Angus. She was created adult with no chance of learning right from wrong or how to behave - no-one to teach her anything. And then she found she was just the property uf a man she didn't know and didn't care for. She was trapped in a life not of her making.

Posted by Margaret Ellis on Fri 21 Jun 22:50:02

Blodeuwedd is the Welsh goddess of spring created from flowers to be the wife of Lleu. She was created by the great magicians Math and Gwydion to be Lleu's mate, in response to a curse pronounced by his mother that he would never have a wife from any race then on the Earth. They fashioned Blodeuwedd from nine types of blossom - oak, meadowsweet, broom, cockle, bean, nettle, chestnut, primrose, and hawthorn - and breathed life into her. She proved treacherous to Lleu, and she and her lover Gronw Pebyr plotted against him, killing the invulnerable Lleu by tricking him into the only pose in which he could be harmed. Blodeuwedd was punished for this by being transformed into a tawny owl - though she still kept her name. Blodeuwedd, meaning "Flower-face", is the Welsh name for an owl.
Pronunciation: blod EYE weth ("th" as in "weather")

About the artist

Margaret Ellis

South Yorkshire, United Kingdom

A professional artist and art tutor. Also a Prifessional Associate and demonstrator for the SAA.
Lives in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, on the edge of the Peak District National Park.